Surfaces copied with elements

When I copy/transform/project elements, the surface which the elements are associated with gets copied/transformed/projected with them. Then, when I hide the surface, the elements are hidden too. It's like the new elements are created in the geometry layer instead of he FE layer. To fix this, I have to manually delete the new surface that came with the elements.

Is this an issue with my settings/install? How can I fix it?